NBA stars put on a show

The ticket prices may have been exorbitant, the queue to get into the arena may have been very long, and the traffic at the Araneta Center may have been terrible, but in the end, it was all worth it.
An overflow crowd of close to 18,000 packed the Smart Araneta Coliseum Saturday night to witness world-class basketball, and the visiting NBA stars made sure they did not go home disappointed.
Mesmerizing their adoring Filipino fans with alley-oop slams and ankle-breaking moves, the team of NBA players, dubbed the Smart All-Stars, easily handled the PBA selection, 131-105, in a game that was a virtual dunk-a-thon.
The outcome of this one was never really in doubt even before opening tip-off, just as it was never really about the final score. It was about such an awesome collection of basketball talent descending upon this basketball-crazy country and putting on a show for hoops fans. Even their opponents, who are basketball stars in their own right here in Manila, were simply star-struck, getting their pictures taken with their idols during warm-ups and timeouts. The referees also couldn't resist, snapping photos of themselves with Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant before tip-off.
It was hard to blame them, of course, because it's not often you get to watch the reigning NBA MVP, reigning scoring champion, reigning alpha dog, and two former Rookies of the Year play on local soil.
But give props to the PBA selection for at least trying. Sensing the crowd would most likely cheer for the visitors, James Yap addressed the fans and, in a sort of lovable way, asked, "Sana naman, suportahan ninyo kami (I hope you cheer for us)," which drew laughter and cheers.
Early on, the local stars gave the crowd something to cheer for, as the starting unit of Yap, Mark Caguioa, Jason Castro, Arwind Santos and Sonny Thoss took a 16-12 lead. Castro showed the visitors a thing or two by stealing the ball from Chris Paul twice in the opening minutes for a pair of breakaway layups, while Santos got going early with eight of his team's first 10 points.
Durant then hit a triple, Bryant slammed it home, and Durant scored on a layup to push the Smart All-Stars ahead, 19-16. A few minutes later, Alex Cabagnot hit a jumper to give the PBA stars what would turn out to be their last lead of the game at 20-19.
The NBA stars took the first quarter, 30-26, behind Durant's nine points. LA Tenorio scored on a nifty drive against Derrick Rose to early in the second to make it 33-28, but the PBA selection wouldn't come any closer after that. Paul set up Bryant for a vicious alley-oop jam with a pass off the backboard that made it 39-32, before Durant hit back-to-back treys to finally give the visitors a double-digit spread at 52-40, with 6:05 left.
With JaVale McGee dunking almost at will and James Harden and Tyreke Evans finding their range from outside, the Smart All-Stars entered the halftime break with a comfortable 66-50 spread. They padded the lead to 22 early in the third at 72-50, punctuated by a Bryant dunk.
A few sequences later, Rose hit a triple and Durant unleashed another slam to pad the lead to 77-52, and at that point the score didn't matter anymore. The crowd wanted more entertaining moves, and the visitors obliged. With 5:45 left in the third, Bryant provided the highlight move of the night, lobbing the ball underhand to the rim to set up Rose for a wicked slam that made it 90-66.
It was 107-78 at the end of the third, and the NBA stars breached the 30-point barrier when McGee completed an alley-oop from Derek Fisher to make it 109-78 early in the fourth. Moments later, McGee, who had been tweeting about wanting to plank during his Manila visit, did exactly that by planking right on the hardcourt after blocking Rabeh Al-Hussaini.
The visitors established their largest lead with 7:00 left after a James Harden triple made it 121-86. Then with the score at 125-99, Paul exacted some measure of revenge against Castro by bouncing the ball between the legs of the Talk 'N Text guard and finishing with a layup.
McGee led the NBA stars with 25 points, while Durant had 22, including 20 in the first half. Derrick Williams and Tyreke Evans chipped in 19 and 17, respectively. Bryant had 12, and despite chants of "Ko-be! Ko-be! Ko-be!" late in the fourth, the Lakers star kept himself on the bench. Fisher was the only NBA player who failed to score.
Santos had 25 for the PBA selection, but he was the only one in double digits. Yap, a prolific shooter, was held scoreless.
The NBA selection next tests the mettle of Smart Gilas Pilipinas today at 1:30PM. Coach Rajko Toroman said his side will treat this as more than an exhibition match, although he conceded that they have amonumental task ahead of them. "You have to understand, these players are from another planet," said the Serbian mentor during the press conference yesterday.
The scores:
Smart All-Stars (131) — McGee 25, Durant 22, Williams 19, Evans 17, Harden 16, Bryant 12, Paul 11, Rose 9, Fisher 0.
PBA All-Stars (105) — Santos 25, Pingris 9, Cabagnot 9, Mercado 8, David 8, Al-Hussaini 8, Norwood 7, Reyes 6, Caguioa 4, Thoss 4, Castro 4, Seigle 4, Intal 4, Fonacier 3, Tenorio 2, Yap 0.

By Sid Ventura

Careers For Smart People

See how you could prepare for a career that utilizes your brain power.

By Chris Kyle

Smart people come in all shapes and sizes.

So do smart career choices.

A bright NFL quarterback, for example, can read a defense and understand its strengths and weaknesses, all in the blink of an eye.

It's called spatial intelligence, and it's the same skill that graphic designers use to imagine smart visual solutions that their clients want but can't articulate.

[Search for Graphic Design schools near you now]

The bottom line: intelligent people - you know who you are! - tend to be well-suited to certain careers.

These five careers, for example, can be smart options for smart people.
1.Accountant
2.Medical Manager
3.Registered Nurse
4.Computer Systems Administrator
5.Teacher

Keep reading to learn about these careers. You'll be smarter for it…

#1 - Accountant

Accountants need to have more than just a knack for numbers. They should also have sound reasoning skills, since the simplest answer is often the right one when dealing with even the most complex calculations.

Education Options: There are plenty of accounting and finance programs that could prepare you for a career as an accountant. Many accountants and auditors have at least a bachelor's degree in accounting or a similar field, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Average Pay: $67,430*

[Find Accounting and Finance schools now]

#2 - Medical Manager

Health care isn't just big business; it's also incredibly complex. As a result, medical managers need a sharp mind and keen business sense to keep up in this ever-evolving industry.

Education Option: Some medical managers have technical backgrounds, while others are experts in areas like finance or team-building. To qualify for management roles, consider earning a bachelor's degree in an area like health care administration, followed by an MBA.

Average Pay: $90,970*

[Search for Health Care and Business schools now]

#3 - Registered Nurse

Registered nurses are among the most educated in the health care industry. Knowing what to do and when to do it is crucial, as is the ability to communicate effectively with patients and their families, not to mention the doctors you are assisting.

Education Options: Most registered nurses enter the position with either an associate's or bachelor's degree in nursing, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Average Pay: $66,530*

[Find Nursing degree programs near you]

#4 - Computer Systems Administrator

Getting called a geek in the computer industry isn't an insult; it's a compliment. The good news: figuring out the most efficient way to share and store information may not be as complicated as rocket science, but it's still highly prized in today's digital world.

Education Options: An associate's or bachelor's degree could help you get your computer skills up to speed. Consider an area like computer science, network administration, or IT & information systems.

Average Pay: $70,930*

[Find IT degree programs now]

#5 - Teacher

The best teachers are gifted communicators and motivators who enjoy healthy discussions and debate. If you're interested in this career, you'll need to be able to take complex subjects and present them in a straightforward way.

Education Options: While the temperament of a teacher may be a natural gift, formal education could provide you with the necessary academic background and teaching certification. It's best to begin with a bachelor's degree. From there public school teachers need to get certified. And keep in mind that a master's degree could help increase your earning potential and employment opportunities.

Average Pay: $55,150*

[Search for Teaching programs].

*Average salary comes from the U.S. Department of Labor, using 2009 median salary information. For salary purposes, data for "Federal government criminal investigators" was used for FBI agents; data for "Secondary school teachers" was used for Teachers.

Strong earthquake rocks northeastern Japan

TOKYO (AP) — A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit Japan's northeastern coast on Sunday, prompting a tsunami warning for the area still recovering from a devastating quake and killer wave four months ago.

Residents in coastal areas were warned to evacuate, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake hit at 9:57 local time (0057 GMT), and a warning of a tsunami was issued for most of the northeastern coastline. The epicenter of the quake was in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan's main island, Honshu, at a depth of about 6 miles (10 kilometers).

Japanese officials predicted the quake could generate tsunami of up to 20 inches (50 centimeters), but the initial waves were only about 4 inches (10 centimeters).

Japan's northeastern coastline was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that left nearly 23,000 dead or missing and touched off a nuclear crisis at a badly damaged facility in Fukushima.

Officials said there were no reports of abnormalities at the Fukushima plant caused by Sunday's quake. Airports in the area were also functioning normally.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. Dozens of strong aftershocks have been felt since the March 11 disaster, which measured a 9.0 magnitude and was the strongest in Japanese history.

Sunday's quake registered 4 on the Japanese scale of 7, meaning it was felt as moderately strong. Because of the damage from the March quake and tsunami, however, many buildings in the area are structurally weak and seawalls have been destroyed, making the region more vulnerable to relatively weaker quakes.

By ERIC TALMADGE - Associated Press |

Expect more hacks on PHL gov't websites -Kaspersky Labs

The recent cyber-attack on the website of Vice President Jejomar Binay may just be the tip of the iceberg —the first of more attacks on Philippine government websites, a computer security firm cautioned over the weekend.
Kaspersky Lab Global Research and Analysis Team Director Costin Raiu said that the Philippine government must implement a defense strategy against attacks, and conduct security audits on servers to find vulnerabilities.
"Given the past incidents of this kind, it is expected that the attack will consist of a DDoS flood designed to bring down the server and make it unreachable. It’s possible the confidential information will be sought after, so the defense strategies would be multiple," Raiu said.
A DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack involves overwhelming a target website with visits from different sources until the site crashes.
Raiu said it is important to have an anti-DDoS plan, which may involve increasing the Internet bandwidth to subscribing to a specific anti-DDoS service plan.
Also, he said that once vulnerabilities are found, the websites' servers must go offline temporarily to reduce damage.
"Past logs should be analyzed for previous probes which could have uncovered bugs than can now be exploited," he added.
Contingency plans
Raiu also called for contingency plans in case attacks still get through.
"Of course, a highly sophisticated targeted attack will always succeed--this is why there should be mitigation steps as well as disaster recovery procedures —such as backups, server replacement/relocation and redundancy," Raui said.
He pointed out that any attack on a government website is a message of disrespect, showing people that they are not protected by their society's leaders.
Raiu said that other than the OVP site, other government websites recently attacked by hackers include those of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Last year, the websites of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) were also hacked.
Similar attacks on Malaysia's government websites were done by a group of hackers, Kaspersky noted. — TJD, GMA News